Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

The 30 Day Music Challenge, Day 2: 58,000 Years

From the 1990s list: "Fifty-Eight" by The Prayer Chain
One of the only songs by anyone that successfully and effortlessly captured the feel of 5/8 time in a song, "Fifty-Eight" was actually named such because of the time signature. "Precious Man" was the working title of a song about longing for the one that left you.

Take my fist and hold it in your handTake my rage and bury my painWhy won't he love meWhy won't he hold me

Even outside of the angst-ridden '90s alternative scene, this kind of topic needed a place in a song somewhere. The cliche of fathers leaving their families is so widespread that even if one has never had to experience it, they've known someone who has.

This was the first TPC song that made me sit up and take thoughtful notice. As a musician, I immediately recognized the off-center time signature and really enjoyed how well they put the song together (anthropologically speaking, the demo version found on So Close . . . Yet So Far sheds some interesting light on how much the song had changed from inception to final product). The work of putting a song like that through the paces can be tiring, as I know from experience, but when the end result is so fluid like this, it makes it all worthwhile.

This seems to be one of the most beloved songs of the band by their fans, and one of the staples of their live shows. Andrew Prickett's guitar rings and fills up the track with a wall of sound that allows the music to soar, supporting Tim Tabor's bronze vocal. All of it was given fuel from Wayne Everett's spot-on drumming, providing the very heartbeat the song needed to keep churning.

Bass was good, too. Good job, Eric.

Off the list: "One Thousand Years" by The Violet Burning
The Violet Burning was one of those often-overlooked bands from the '90s and 2000s who made phenomenal rock with a slight alternative bent. Michael Pritzl could go from gentle worship that invokes visions of the Holy One to scorching screams that thunder down your spine.

"One Thousand Years" sits right in the middle of those two furious poles, a yawning worship epic that follows a wide parabolic curve. It's one of the worship songs I forget about because it's not on a worship album like Faith and Devotions of a Satellite Heart. The refrains of "Yeah, You're my heart, You're my home" at the end of the tune tie together a stream-of-consciousness ride through one man's journey of praise.

I needed to forgive youI needed to throw it downInto the depth of the sea that forgets these thingsBeneath the walls of soundThat sing for all us sinnersSing for all our livesWrap this song around our heartsMay it bind us tight

If you're looking for an excuse to hear more from this band, look no further than Drop-Dead, the album this song closes, and I guarantee you'll feel the worship flow out of the experience of listening.
No. Don't stop. Rewind.

There Is No Box.
Zach

Get link

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Google+

Email

Other Apps

Popular Posts

So I've learned one thing about writing a blog series: plan better. For instance, don't try to write the last installment the week before Easter when you work at a church full-time. That's just a losing proposition.

Here we are. The pinnacle. The peak. The top of the mountain, the best of the best.The Top 10 Christian Albums of the 1990s. Forget AC/pop radio, because you're not going to hear mid-30s mommy music here. Unless you were a mid-30s mommy in the '90s and actually listened to this stuff. Then it's totally yours. But these albums, to me, are the most beloved, most artistic, most groundbreaking, most creative, and most important albums from that decade, and they span from the very beginning of the 1990s to the very end.

Last year, I created my first Top 10 (+1) list, and it was of my favorite games. Games that I would want to play any chance I could game, that I think everyone ought to try at least once, games that I would probably never get sick of. Since that time, I've been exposed to a few dozen other games. I acquired more than 15 games at one game convention alone (Geekway To The West in St. Louis, Missouri), and others through various channels, and I played more games this year than I think I ever have before. Being relatively new in the hobby, my sample size is still pretty small.

Nevertheless, you like what you like, and I like to play games.

With this list, I decided to include 3 Honorable Mentions, because there are just too many games out there that deserve the praise I can't give in a Top 10 (+1) list. I thought about doing a Top 20, but . . . no.

When the clock finally strikes midnight on this list, my hope is that those who read this series will be inspired to check out some of the albums listed here, and thus find out more about the goodness of God. Yeah, the music is an example of great, quality musicianship and stellar production, but there are truths about the nature of God inherent in the very music itself. If nothing else, we have an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Father with our eyes completely shut.

So, here we go. Continuing the count with #40.

40. WORLDS AWAY - Crumbacher-DukeI saw a print ad for this album in CCM Magazine, and I liked the fashions that Stephen Crumbacher and Christopher Duke were wearing. Back when many Christian bookstores were doing the "Buy 4 Get 1 Free" sticker promotions, I used the stickers I'd saved to get this cassette for free, and I'm glad I did. It would be several years later when I realized who the "Crumbacher" was in the duo, but I was very glad to hav…